'Rohit, Kohli being dismissed early was the best thing that happened to India': Ex-PAK skipper's astonishing take

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were back in the hut within the first seven overs during the Asia Cup 2023 game against Pakistan.

The highly-awaited Asia Cup clash between cricketing giants India and Pakistan was marred by rain, resulting in a no-result after only one innings of play on Saturday. In a game that was disrupted by persistent rain, Pakistan's bowlers had successfully dismantled India's top-order before a strong partnership from Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) took the side to a competitive score of 266. Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan's pace spearhead, emerged as the standout performer, claiming four wickets for 35 runs.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed by Shaheen Afridi in the bowler's opening spell (AP)

The no-result meant that Pakistan, led by captain Babar Azam, secured their spot in the Super Four stage of the tournament. They had previously won their opening match in this 50-over competition against Nepal. Nevertheless, the Pakistan team might be rueing a lost opportunity at attempting the run-chase on a bowling-friendly surface conditions in Pallekele.

After opting to bat, Rohit Sharma seemed to have made a positive start before a rain interruption early into the game broke his momentum; when the play resumed, Shaheen castled the Indian skipper with a delivery that nipped back into the right-hander. A few overs later, Virat Kohli also found a thick inside-edge ricocheting into stumps against Shaheen, leaving the middle-order exposed. With Shubman Gill (10 off 32 balls) and a returning Shreyas Iyer also walking back to pavilion after facing only 9 deliveries, a young Ishan Kishan was tasked with bailing India out of trouble alongside Hardik Pandya.

The duo, however, faced the task up-front and counter-attacked with boundaries to take the fight back to the opposition bowlers. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was mightily pleased with the duo's effort, stating that the early dismissals of Rohit and Kohli was the “best thing” that could have happened to the Indian team.

“I was saying earlier that apart from 2-3 players, there's a lack of experience when it comes to such intense pressure games (in Indian team). The best thing that happened to India today was that their main players (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) were dismissed early, and that their youngsters steered a comeback. They took them to a respectable total,” said Butt on his official YouTube channel.

"We can't say that Pakistan would've easily chased the target. It would've been a thrilling finish. If India fielded and bowled well, it would've been very difficult for Pakistan. I would say India benefitted a lot from this game.

“Everyone was saying what would happen if Rohit and Kohli were dismissed early against this attack. So, this happened. They still scored close to 270 runs,” said the former Pakistan captain.

Must-win game for India

With Pakistan already moving to Super Fours, India now face a must-win situation against Nepal in their final game of Group A. In the other group, Bangladesh will be fighting for survival when they take on Afghanistan in their last group match; a loss would knock them out of the tournament.

Sri Lanka had defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in their group opener on Thursday.